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Seattle life is rainy and damp during the cold months. October is usually decent, for the most part, but once November hits, we see more rain. Drizzling raindrops against the windows, pitter-pat and the shrill cries of wind... yes, this marks the wintry portion of fall for us.
The other night, a co-worker and I went to go see Spectre after work. We returned to the office to collect our belongings and I couldn't help but want to take a picture of the city below through the lens of a rainy window pane. Although the rain blurs the view, it still appears lovely as the streets calm below.
Probably my most favored aspect of the fall and winter months is the
relaxation and warmth from the hearth. For me, this means relaxing under
the blankets and sipping warm tea or coffee, and catching up on my
Netflix. In the photo above, I am enjoying a pumpkin spice latte courtesy of the Keurig. So tasty!
Lunch at work has recently been a little heavier, replacing my typical salads with clam cho…

It's almost the official start of the next day and I'm just now realizing that I haven't posted a blog for today... yikes! I promise to be much better about this - I just have to ease back into a posting schedule.

I've spent the last several hours editing a video and much of the rest of the evening laughing up a storm at terribly funny typos between a good friend and I in texts and Facebook messaging. That made my normally boring day a great and exciting one instead, so much focus has been there mostly... that, and on a new and exciting app that I just downloaded. I'll tell you about that later though...

The video I edited and uploaded this evening is a tag video created by my friend, Maggie. I met her a few years ago at Generation Beauty, and we wanted to collaborate with everyone we met there to create content together for the first time in forever... The tag is on things you don't know about me... or at least that's what I'm dubbing it as. Here it is…

For our Halloween potluck at work last week, I made a cake. It wasn't any ordinary cake, but instead, a 4-layered candy corn cake. If that doesn't sound like a lot of work on its own, add four different kinds of cake into the mix. So many different flavors packed into one little cake. It was a hit at work.
My inspiration came from Curly Girl Kitchen, where she created a soft pastel-colored cake that made me swoon. While my rendition didn't turn out exactly how Heather made hers, I am really quite pleased with my efforts. The feedback I received alone for constructing this sweet concoction was fabulous.
You may find the original recipe here, amongst many of her other fabulous recipes. I opted to simplify the recipe a bit by omitting the vanilla buttercream frosting altogether, mainly because I was unable to find powdered meringue on such short notice. I found a chocolate buttercream frosting from my Betty Crocker cookbook, which did the trick and used this in between each…

It has been a long time since I last shared my thoughts here. I can't really go into all the reasons for it except that the past several months have been tumultuous for my family. What has brought comfort though is the thought of all the beauty that remains, even when the ugly is all we seem to face.

So, to bring myself to write again, I am seeking inspiration. To do this, I bring up Pinterest and read my favorite blogs. I scour Instagram and sit in a coffee shop sipping on my favorite seasonal treat: eggnog latte.

Yes, I know. It's not Christmastime just yet. Ssssh. It's okay. I know that. I just really, really like eggnog and coffee together. Let's just pretend that it that season temporarily for as long as it takes for me to sip it down and to write out every thought that my brain is holding hostage.

Instagram: If you haven't already, you should go follow me. I don't post nearly as often as I'd like, but I am often able to find some inspiring things aroun…

This past weekend was wonderful, chaotic, pretty, and long... and it was spent in LA at Generation Beauty. Being that I'm a third year veteran to this weekend filled with makeup, beauty, and more makeup enthusiasts than I can count, I feel as though it's a beautiful experience that I still feel excited about, hence why I am blogging about it here instead of Simply Bellezza. (Trust me, those posts are coming!)

So what is Generation Beauty? A place where all beauty lovers come together and celebrate makeup, beauty, and each other by meeting brands and getting to meet their favorite YouTube Beauty Stars. This year for me, it was all about networking with the brands and seeing my friends again. The free swag is also an added bonus... I haven't yet done a grand total of all the beauty items I received, but it's well into the couple of hundreds of dollars worth... phew.

I created a video for last year's experience (where I started off my trip by visiting Hollywood, a pla…

Earlier today I was chatting with my roommate about old games from childhood, feeling nostalgic in talking about dysentery deaths on the Oregon Trail and crunching numbers in Number Munchers. What a trip. I then started to think about other games that I really enjoyed from the 90s - things like Putt Putt and Spy Fox. Then there were the games that came installed on an old Mac that we inherited from my grandpa when he passed. There were all sorts of random games - Snood, Mario's Game Gallery, (Knock knock.Who's there?Jamaica.Jamaica who?Ja makin' me cookoo crazy!) Goldpusher, and finally, my favorite: A Mess O' Trouble.

AMOT, as it's fondly dubbed, is a game that I can recall playing everyday, yet could never beat or make my way through the maze. It has seriously haunted me for years. Sadly, our Mac died and we switched to a PC, for which AMOT was not available.

Many years later, I borrowed an old Apple laptop from my uncle (think early 2000s before OS X) and had ag…

We had the first real taste of a warm spring day here in the Pacific Northwest yesterday - sunny, warm, and a bit breezy. It was quite the perfect day for such reasons.
I got home from work realizing that in my front lawn around a large tree, is the loveliest little patch of blue and purple flowers growing about. I had noticed it before, but didn't think much of it. Yesterday, however, with the little buds swaying in the breezes, I felt the desire to really enjoy them in the midst of a lovely spring day.
I went a little picture crazy, but you will see why:

What a beautiful welcoming to spring weather. When you look around, you'll find beauty everywhere. Bellezza di vita at its finest.
Blossoming in the warmth,
Em

I'll admit it: I've been pretty down in the dumps lately. I have my reasons - excuses, really, but I've decided no more! I've had it.
Why do I have the right to be depressed when I live a fairly decent life? I work for everything I have and have earned my share fairly.
I found moment of peace after gazing into the distance and seeing the beautiful city lights. It reminded me of a time when I was a child gazing out my window at time-time, looking at the freeway and the downtown buildings from a couple miles away, imagining that my life had a bigger meaning and deeper purpose than imaginable.
Everything in me at the time believed that I was destined for something magical and amazing.
For the first time, I felt that nostalgic hope and faith by remembering the very reasons I moved here to Seattle in the first place. I recollected all these feelings after one glimpse of the nighttime glow of the Space Needle in the distance from my favorite spot in the city. A place where …

Last week, Monopoly celebrated its 80th birthday, (March 19th, to be exact) which so happens to also be World Monopoly Day (how did I miss that?).
Hasbro announced two new editions to commemorate the 80th birthday of the iconic Parker Brothers' original boardgame - you can expect an upcoming U.S. version and also a world one. So what's changing?
Um, how about everything.
Our favorite St. Charles Place, Marvin Gardens, and Boardwalk spaces, to name a few, will be replaced with U.S. cities such as Cleveland, Denver, and Little Rock. Seattle Refined recently blogged about Seattle even getting its own spot on the game board, which begets the questions: what color might that be for us Seattleites?
Magenta, oddly enough. I greatly expected us to be in the green spaces, especially since we are the Emerald City that is located in the Evergreen State. However, magenta has its perks too, I suppose. That aside, it's a fun idea for our city have a place on the U.S. edition of Mono…

Over the past few years, I've gone back and forth with trying to decide if eating vegan would be a suitable decision for me and for my lifestyle. While vegan means absolutely no animal products, it doesn't necessarily mean that I'd be eating only salads and wheat germ. The following images are of some vegan dishes I've eaten at some of the wonderful vegan/vegetarian restaurants here in Seattle.
I'll let you decide if vegan is depriving oneself of yummy foods:

I've recently been addicted to watching The Pioneer Woman, for which the first season is on Netflix.

It isn't easy for me to get into cooking/food shows unless they have some sort of competitive notion (Top Chef) or some sort of specialty focus (Cupcake Wars, Sweet Genius, Cake Boss - see a theme there?). I will occasionally watch Nightmare Kitchens, but it's more of something that I'll watch when nothing else is on.
All that being said, while perusing Netflix's reality tv genre for a new and interesting show, I stumbled upon The Pioneer Woman and decided to watch it based on the description mentioning her being a blogger. No way! Someone blogged about food got her own tv show? I had to watch. Maybe get some tips or inspiration about how to be successful too.
And I see why people love her show. She's the neighbor you'd love to have living next door - so inviting and just a genuinely nice person...and...all that yummy food! I'd invite myself over to her…

Last week's episode of Grey's Anatomy where Amelia shone brightly with her amazing life-saving and miraculous brain surgery was one of my favorite episodes. It was so intense, which is nothing less than expected with Ms. Rhimes' amazing show and cast.
I wanted to share with you my absolute Grey's Anatomy episodes. It occasionally pops up in my "Watch Again" queues, so I will watch it... and cry while singing, yes, singing along:

This song is amazing on its own, but when the cast is singing it while working on Callie - it's just one of those breathtaking moments. By the way, did you know that Sara Ramirez (Callie) is a Tony winner? So, yes, she's quite an amazing singer. Chandra Wilson (Bailey) also has roots in musical theatre.
What do you think of their powerful musical episode? Yes, it's cheesy for shows to do this, but aaah. This one was nothing short of amazing.
Lulling myself to sleep,
Em

It has been an interesting week - the sun is shining more, and warm weather is on its way, which is something that I am very much looking forward to!
I've been feeling more energized with this amazing sunshine, so I'm pushing for a regular upload schedule now. Saturday/Sundays for full tutorial uploads... and Tuesdays for my weekly tips! I am also planning on vlogging a bit more and uploading that to my Emmy Weiss channel, and more frequently for my AllThingsEmmy channel, although I'm not sure how that video schedule will look right now.
Let's start with last weekend - I filmed, edited, AND uploaded this pink and green spring makeup look. It's very girly and wearable, and I really love how it turned out. The video is below, and the products used can be found here.

Although I had trouble getting that video uploaded on Saturday afternoon, I felt compelled to get out of the house to enjoy some of the beautiful sunshine. I drove to see a friend, and we took her pupp…

When you create something as you are inspired, you feel a sense of completion - a purpose has been resolved; a moment defined. The essence of your being is molded into whatever form you just created.

Creativity can manifest in the form of art, or it can exist in the form of scientific thoughts; it can derive math problems, or it can determine a cause of action. Creativity is innovation, and innovation is what drives humans.

I like to create the practical and the abstract...in many forms, and lately, I've been inspired to create physical art; useful art - something that can be replicated easily, but yet is something unique and admired.

One of the things that I've created recently are these little clover charms for a St. Patrick's Day decoration. I plan on using them in some festive decor and flair - what do you think?

When days are busy and chaotic, I can imagine myself floating around in a glass bubble through the streets, untouched. It's all about my mindset and what I choose to focus my attentions on. What helps to bring me to this mindset is listening to music that has a raw and folksy-sound mixed with intelligent lyrics - songs that make me feel a little more nonchalant about the things I cannot control.
An example of an artist whose music I absolutely adore is Laura Marling. She's young, but has an incredibly complex and powerful voice. Her earthy music makes me feel as though life is simple again and that I am of the earth.
I know, this is probably very poetic of me, but please do take a listen to her lyrics. The song below, "Sophia," is my favorite from her. It starts out slowly, but then progresses to a more upbeat rhythm as if to depict a change in mood or to intensify a feeling:

What do you think? What song or musician do you like to hear when you are in need of a ne…

Last night, I decided to save myself a lot of time and quite possibly some calories by preparing a go-to meal that would last a few days. The meal? Asian chicken salad. I will have the recipe on AllThingsEmmy.blogspot.com by the end of the week, so go check it out.
What is it?
Well, it's inspired by a traditional coleslaw mixed with a potluck favorite: chicken and ramen salad. So yes, there are crushed ramen noodles in the salad, however, the traditional mayo-based dressing has been nixed, and more vegetables and even some fruit have been added to the mix. My roommate bought a 5-lb bag of mandarin oranges that he realized he wasn't going to be able to eat on his own before they went bad - enter the invitation to use several of them in my salad, including in the dressing.
To add even more veggies, I laid it on top of a bed of spring greens. So delicious and nutritious!
I love taking traditionally tasty, yet unhealthy recipes and finding ways to make them healthier and still …

When you wander into your favorite coffee shop or cafe, do you ever notice the people around you - what they are doing and how they appear?
People watching is underrated, I feel, simply because there are so many wonderful and interesting people out there with stories to tell and memories of experiences we may not ever know ourselves. We're very egocentric and live in our own bubbles; we forget that people around us are whom we read about in books or those who inspire us on Pinterest. Each person has a story.
I love people-watching downtown - with a huge mix of tourists, businessmen and women, hippies, and easy-goers, it's hard not to allow my imagination to run wild with various thoughts, ideas, or images. A woman carrying a laptop bag may be on the brink of publishing her first e-book, accomplishing a dream she has had since childhood to become a published author. A man running to the bus is trying to make the bus to meet his wife at the hospital because she is in labor.

This morning, (rather, yesterday morning) I awoke at around 6, but tried to sleep in as long as possible, barely making it to 7:30. I got up and felt energetic enough to film a makeup tutorial for a spring look - I even got it all edited. Although I've been having trouble getting the video uploaded to YouTube, (it's still uploading after 14 hours and three attempts) I decided to share with you an older video I made for spring.
Rewind to early 2012 - and back to bad video quality, when I came up with this beautiful gradient of colors using yellow, purple, and turquoise. I still really love how this look came together and am thinking about re-filming it so that I have better video quality this time around... to be honest, there are a lot of really pretty makeup looks that I would like to re-film for that very same reason... hehe. Here's the video though, so I hope you enjoy it for what it is...

Isn't it pretty? Sorry to toot my own horn there, but as I was saying, I am s…

It has been one of those weeks where I didn't do much or take too many photos since it was kind of boring, to be quite honest. Boring can be good - hey, it can be very good, especially if you have had a lot of chaos in your life. It can very well be a welcomed relief.
Saturday was a fun and pretty day. My roommate and I went out for lunch, where we split two different burgers (from Blazin' Onion) and had both ordered the Strawberry Lemonade. So yummy.
We later went to the casino, where I've never been lucky in playing slots until then - I won $100! That was completely unexpected and awesome, and it will probably never happen again. Haha

I've been in such a flower frenzy lately since it has been starting to look and feel like spring. I'm very excited to see flowers and blooms again... aren't these flowers gorgeous? We were at Home Depot looking at stepping stones to put in our driveway for safety, and I had to look in their nursery.
I've been teasing Ernie-…

It seems as though everyone is talking about the 90s - makeup enthusiasts and fashion bloggers are raving about the new old 90s styles... and you're finding a lot more #throwbacks in social media. While I've already done a lot of raving about my 90s childhood memories recently, today, it's all about one of my favorite movies from the 90s: Hook.

Who can pass up on the beloved late Robin Williams' rendition as a much grown-up Peter Pan who must return to Neverland to save his children from Captain Hook? Between the exciting and adventurous world where the Lost Boys live, to Julia Roberts as a talkative Tinkerbell, the 90s had reprised the Peter Pan story and made it something so new and magical...

Have you seen this movie? What is your favorite part? Mine is probably the food fight scene between the Lost Boys where Peter and Rufio had a hilarious wordy argument resulting in food flying everywhere...

I've been feeling tad bit depressed
recently, which is something that I cannot be ashamed to admit. This
blog serves to be a reminder that there is beauty in everything, so each
time I blog about something here, it is because I find beauty in it and
it also serves its purpose, at least for myself.
Last
week was rough - some major changes and cuts at work meant that a lot
of people are now searching for new jobs. I am very grateful that I
still have my position, but it's still shocking to know that so many of
my colleagues don't have that same comfort. I've also been under the
weather with allergies and with my wisdom teeth coming in (I'm a late
bloomer, I guess) and everything else added to that mix and - blah.
However, what gets me through is having beautiful weather and peaceful days. This is my week's story:
For
Valentine's Day, my roommate ordered us all dinner - I chose a chicken
salad from my favorite pizza place (and stole some of his cr…